First Nations News & Views: This Week - Code Talkers, Slurs and Silencing Native Tongues

by: Meteor Blades

Sun Feb 05, 2012 at 12:47:38 PM PST

Welcome to the third edition of First Nations News & Views. This weekly series is one element in the "Invisible Indians" project put together by navajo and me, with assistance from the Native American Netroots Group. Each Sunday's edition is published at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time, includes a short, original feature article, a look at some date relevant to American Indian history, and some briefs chosen to show the diversity of modern Indians living both on and off reservations in the United States and Canada. Last week's edition is here.

Cross Posted at Daily Kos

70 Years Ago This Month the Navajo 'Code Talkers' Were Born

Joe Morris Sr. walked away from us on July 17. Keith Little walked away from us on Jan. 3. Jimmy Begay walked away from us Feb. 1. They were Navajo "Code Talkers," three of the tribe's 421 warriors who enlisted in the U.S. Marines to learn how to give Japanese intelligence headaches. Only a handful of those who joined up in the early months of 1942 remain and will soon also "walk away from us," a common Navajo expression for dying. On Jan. 29, the last surviving member of the original 29 enlistees, Chester Nez, celebrated his 92nd birthday. Without them, their commanders and other officers have said, American casualties in battles for Japanese-held islands would have been far more ghastly than they were.

Those 29 and all the other Code Talkers were sworn to secrecy in case the code had to be used again. It was, in Korea and Vietnam. It was never broken. In 1968, the code and the story of its crucial role were declassified, freeing those who invented and used it to tell their experiences. Since then, more than 500 books have been written, several documentaries have been produced, Hollywood made a version called Windtalkers, a film that spends more of its time following Nick Cage around than it does Adam Beach (Saulteaux), who for his role spent six months learning Diné, the Navajo language. Famed sculptor Oreland Joe (Navajo-Ute) created the Navajo Code Talker Memorial at the Navajo Tribal Park & Veterans Memorial at Window Rock, Ariz. Oral histories were taken.

The original 29 Navajo "code talkers" at Camp Pendleton in 1942.

Yet, although President Ronald Reagan declared Aug. 14, 1982, National Navajo Code Talkers Day, it wasn't until Dec. 21, 2000, 56 years after they first saw action, that the five surviving original Code Talkers and relatives of the other 24 received Congressional Gold Medals for their innovativeness and heroism. The other Code Talkers were awarded Congressional Silver Medals. The belated awards contained a deep irony. Many of these men who had saved untold numbers of American lives by using their native language had been punished for speaking that same language as children in boarding schools.  

It may come as a surprise to many who are acquainted with the story of the Code Talkers that the Navajos weren't the only Indians used for code work during World War II. And they weren't the first. The Army even used eight Chocktaw speakers to confuse German troops in 1918. In the the next war, the Army in both the Pacific and Europe used Lakota speakers, Oneidas, Chippewas, Pimas, Hopis,Choctaws, Sac and Fox and Comanches. But those Indians simply talked to each other in their Native language. The first 29 Navajo Code Talkers developed a real code. They could not even be understood by other speakers of Navajo.

The Marines had never used Indians for this purpose. But Philip Johnston, a white man who had grown up on the lands of the Navajo Nation, approached the Corps in mid-February with an idea. Why not use Navajos and members of other large tribes for military communications? Show us, the Marines said. So Johnston brought four Navajos with him to Camp Elliott, Calif., for a demonstration. They were given some military messages. They substituted some Navajo words and then, in pairs, went into separate rooms and communicated by radio. Gen. Clayton Vogel witnessed the success, the decoded messages were accurate renditions of their English originals. He recommended to his superiors that 200 Navajos be recruited.

It took some high-level meetings before a decision was made. But, in April, a pilot program was initiated and in May 29 of the 30 Navajos recruited showed up at Camp Pendleton near Oceanside, Calif., for seven weeks of basic training. They came from places named Chinle, Kayenta, Blue Canyon and Kaibeto. Many had never before been off the reservation.

Reforming Indian Policy

by: Ojibwa

Tue Nov 22, 2011 at 19:47:54 PM PST

In 1867, a special committee of Congress chaired by Wisconsin's Senator James Doolittle reported that Indians outside of Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) were decreasing. With regard to Indian wars with non-Indians, the committee felt that most "are to be traced to the aggressions of lawless white men". The committee report noted the loss of Indian hunting grounds and that driving the last vestige of the buffalo from the plains will "put an end to the wild man's means of life".  

The 19th Century Indian Office

by: Ojibwa

Tue Apr 05, 2011 at 12:43:46 PM PDT

The Bureau of Indian Affairs

by: Ojibwa

Thu Mar 24, 2011 at 13:51:54 PM PDT

The United States has a unique legal and political relationship with Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities as provided by the Constitution of the United States, treaties, court decisions and Federal statutes. Within the government-to-government relationship, Indian Affairs provides services directly or through contracts, grants, or compacts to 565 Federally recognized tribes with a service population of about 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. While the role of Indian Affairs has changed significantly in the last three decades in response to a greater emphasis on Indian self-governance and self-determination, Tribes still look to Indian Affairs for a broad spectrum of services.

Federal Agencies and NAGPRA

by: Ojibwa

Sat Aug 07, 2010 at 15:53:25 PM PDT

Two decades after NAGPRA became law, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report showing that many key federal agencies are not yet in compliance with the law. The GAO concludes:

Despite the fact that key federal agencies have now had almost 20 years to comply with the act, they still have not fully complied.

Shinnecock Indians Obtain Federal Recognition

by: Ojibwa

Mon Jun 28, 2010 at 09:47:12 AM PDT

Suing an Indian Agent

by: Ojibwa

Tue Jun 08, 2010 at 19:23:39 PM PDT

In order to cut down on the expense of paying for Indian delegations who were visiting Washington, D.C., Congress in 1868 did not provide the Bureau of Indian Affairs with general funds which had traditionally been used for financing unauthorized Indian delegations to the capital. Consequently, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs told the Indian agents:

"You will, therefore, take such steps to prevent any Indian coming here, as may be necessary to accomplish the object."

Dakotas Snow Emergency: Charity and Beyond

by: Land of Enchantment

Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 15:07:39 PM PST

In the early days of the United States, Indian Affairs was an agency under the War (later Defense) Department.  Not unlike the private contractors in Iraq, the Indian agents in the field typically did much better than the people they were charged with protecting and assisting.  Often much better.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs

by: Ojibwa

Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 11:13:42 AM PST